Last night was a good meeting. Nothing too controversial, but decisions were made that will benefit the city.
The council approved the trash/recycling collection contract with our service provider, IESI. I'm still not happy about the city taking over the billing for the service, but IESI has been good to work with and they're providing good service at a fair price.
We also approved the contract with the Johnson County Emergency Services District for one more year. It will be an interesting year though. The ESD has a new director and we're told that he may make some needed improvements that may change my mind about participating in the district, but we'll see. I'll reserve judgment now until next summer when we start preparing our next budget and see what the relationship looks like at that time. Whether we choose to participate in providing services to the district in exchange for financial compensation or not we now know that state law will not allow the citizens of Joshua to get out from under the ad valorem taxation that funds the district.
Progress is being made on our city park. We've chosen a construction manager-at-risk to lead the project so now the details on how to build it will get worked out in preparation to break ground next summer. I can't wait!
The council authorized the staff to move forward in development of an economic development incentive policy for the city. This is a huge step forward for Joshua in being able to compete with other cities to attract new businesses. If you want to keep your property taxes low this is how you do it.
Lastly, the council authorized our city manager to execute a contract for the purchase of a parcel of land in which to build our new fire station! More details when ready.
Once again last night we had some local college government students in the audience. I'm glad professors are having their students get out of the classroom and see what's going on out here. If you're reading this and don't currently participate in the governing of your city think about getting involved.
A.J.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Positive Movement
Sorry for the delay in between posts. Business has been up for the last month or two so for me so I've just been busier than I had been, but another reason I haven't written in a while is out of frustration over the national political scene. I've internalized it instead of griping to all of you about it. I told a loyal reader today though that I would write something positive so that's what I'm going to do.
Issue by issue there's not much in the national news for a conservative to find that's positive. Health care, cap and trade, 9/11 trials and the administration in general are all points of grievance, but through all that there is one ray of hope. The conservative base is activated and energized like never before. If we can continue to build momentum through the 2010 primaries and into November then things will be different.
Locally we've got some great things going now too. The voters of Joshua approved all three bond issues this month so we'll have some nice changes around the city. Several people will no longer have high water around their homes when it rains after we complete some needed drainage work and lots of residents will enjoy some new streets to drive on. We'll be getting a much needed new fire station too. We'll all be proud of the new facility when it's done knowing that some of the bravest and most dedicated among us have a comfortable place to operate from where all their equipment can be maintained. I'd also like to welcome Chief Wayne Baker to the department. He's a great addition to to city and will lead our firefighters well.
Another great move for Joshua came in last week's Joshua Star headline - "Economic development policy wanted". Good news. Thanks to the action of our city manager and our economic development boards we're going to get Joshua on the track towards attracting quality retailers, restaurants and industries to our city which is exactly what we need to do if we're ever going to lessen the tax burden on the residents. I'm excited that a movement I talked about during my campaign is coming to the forefront and I'm looking forward to doing all I can to make it a reality.
So how about that? Some positive news. Be thankful for what you have and if you have something more than what you need then pass some on to those who don't this holiday season. The city is collecting food to donate for Thanksgiving and toys for Christmas so please consider dropping off some items to help some local families.
A.J.
Issue by issue there's not much in the national news for a conservative to find that's positive. Health care, cap and trade, 9/11 trials and the administration in general are all points of grievance, but through all that there is one ray of hope. The conservative base is activated and energized like never before. If we can continue to build momentum through the 2010 primaries and into November then things will be different.
Locally we've got some great things going now too. The voters of Joshua approved all three bond issues this month so we'll have some nice changes around the city. Several people will no longer have high water around their homes when it rains after we complete some needed drainage work and lots of residents will enjoy some new streets to drive on. We'll be getting a much needed new fire station too. We'll all be proud of the new facility when it's done knowing that some of the bravest and most dedicated among us have a comfortable place to operate from where all their equipment can be maintained. I'd also like to welcome Chief Wayne Baker to the department. He's a great addition to to city and will lead our firefighters well.
Another great move for Joshua came in last week's Joshua Star headline - "Economic development policy wanted". Good news. Thanks to the action of our city manager and our economic development boards we're going to get Joshua on the track towards attracting quality retailers, restaurants and industries to our city which is exactly what we need to do if we're ever going to lessen the tax burden on the residents. I'm excited that a movement I talked about during my campaign is coming to the forefront and I'm looking forward to doing all I can to make it a reality.
So how about that? Some positive news. Be thankful for what you have and if you have something more than what you need then pass some on to those who don't this holiday season. The city is collecting food to donate for Thanksgiving and toys for Christmas so please consider dropping off some items to help some local families.
A.J.
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